A&M-Kingsville prepares to embrace the Legacy of Change during celebration of Black Heritage Awareness Month

Texas A&M University-Kingsville is preparing to celebrate Black Heritage Awareness Month with a month of activities including lectures, a trivia bowl and art contest.

The activities kick off at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 at the Steinke Physical Education Center during the annual Black Heritage Awareness art contest and basketball game. Local students involved in the Communities in Schools program have submitted Black Heritage Month-themed art for the contest and the winners will be announced during the Javelina Basketball game against West Texas A&M. A tailgate party for the contest participants with games and prizes will begin at 5 p.m. outside the Steinke Physical Education Center (SPEC).

The university community will take part in a nationwide event, the National African American Read-In at noon, Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the Pavilion area outside the Memorial Student Union Building. Members of the university community will read or act out passages written by African-American writers. Refreshments will be provided.

A Black History Month Reader’s Theatre will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, in the Little Theatre. Students in the communication/theatre arts department will read passages from the play Junebug Graduates Tonight. The festivities continue with a Step Show, beginning at 7 p.m. that same day in the Little Theatre. Chris Hall, a teacher from Moody High School in Corpus Christi, will speak at the event. Hall is a member of one of the university’s newest fraternities, Omega Psi Phi, which is sponsoring the Step Show.

Local physician Dr. Martin Boyd will discuss health and wellness issues facing the African-American community during a brown bag lecture, noon Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Alumni Room of Honor in the Memorial Student Union Building. Attendees are invited to bring their lunch. Refreshments will be provided.

A&M-Kingsville students are invited to put their knowledge of African-American history and culture to the test during the Black Heritage Knowledge Bowl, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16. Teams of students will compete for prizes. Students interested in participating can sign up by calling Crispin Trevino, associate director of the Memorial Student Union Building, at 593-4036. Location to be determined.

A representative from the university’s Student Health and Wellness department will discuss diabetes, share information and conduct a screening presentation during a brown bag lecture at noon Thursday, Feb. 17 in the Alumni Room of Honor. Diabetes is highly prevalent among the African-American population.

The film For Colored Girls—which chronicles the life and struggles of African American women—will be the feature movie during Black Heritage Awareness movie night at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 in the Little Theatre. A panel discussion will take place after the film.

The Black Heritage Awareness Banquet is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 in the ballrooms of the Memorial Student Union Building. Tickets are $10 and are available at the front information desk in the Memorial Student Union Building.

The final event of Black Heritage Awareness Month is a brown bag lecture by Residence Life area coordinator Josiah Pullman entitled "American Religious Heritage: Past, Present and Moving Forward”. The lecture begins at noon Thursday, Feb. 24 in the Alumni Room of Honor in the Memorial Student Union Building. Attendees are invited to bring their lunch. Refreshments will be provided.